Portege R700 - the thin and light 13.3"

I just went ahead and canceled the order with TigerDirect. I got kind of freaked out b/c I was only going off of what some posters here has written about finding the r700 listed through TigerDirect at 15.4% cashback. I haven't been able to replicate that finding; when I search for Toshiba Portege r700 on Bing shopping I don't get TigerDirect (in fact I only get a few merchants), and I've varied the search to include only parts of the terms.

I searched online for other people with this problem, and one guy on the Bing forums complained that he used to be able to find TigerDirect products with the Bing search function but couldn't do so any longer.

Again: I haven't been able to find r700 listed on Bing with TigerDirect as the merchant. I clicked through to TigerDirect via Bing and then purchased the r700, but the fact that I never got it confirmed as being one of the Bing-eligible items freaked me out too much so I canceled.

I would really, really appreciate more detailed instructions on how to find the r700 at TigerDirect with 15% cashback from Bing. Otherwise I'm going to have to buy it from a different vendor.

 

I try not to do it thru the store. Click on the sponsor link and you will the bing cashback on TD or CC store. Take screenshot of it just in case Bing said no. But I have not had any problems.

If TD charge you tax, thenuse CC store. They are the same company.

As for me, I am 50/50 on getting a new laptop. My Sony Vaio SR 530 got 3 mths of warranty left.

 

You should see something like this:

http://img339.imageshack.us/i/screenshotay.jpg/

Then you should see your order like this:

http://img230.imageshack.us/f/screenshot2a.jpg/

Take screenshot of everything just in case bing have questions.

CC and TD are the same store. See which one doesnt cost you tax.

You must log into bing first.

 

How do you get to the sponsor link? I am still not clear on how to get this BCB to work on TD with 15% cashback.

 

Some of you are still new to bing? Bing cash back is almost over. I have save tons of money, esp doing it off ebay with the 8%. Really have to thank Microsoft.

 

First, chong, thank you for the pictures. Repped.

Second, it's bizarre: My screen at Circuit City (and at TigerDirect) looks like the one in your picture EXCEPT I don't see the part with the Bing cashback. I entered both shopping sites (CC and TD) via the Bing gateway and then searched for the r700 in the store. Found it, clicked on it, saw the price-- but only the $999 price, not the $999 - cashback price. I've tried it many times now and just can't get it to work.

For that matter, even when I click on the Newegg cashback link-- and the r700 DOES show up in my Bing search via Newegg-- I don't see a cashback icon at the Newegg store like the one in your imageshack picture.

This really sucks; it's a $150 difference.

 

Aarrghh. I just got an email notification from Bing confirming my $150 cash back. But I got it AFTER I has canceled the order from Tiger Direct, so of course Bing will cancel the cashback. But lhwang, at least you know that it works. Or that it worked for me without having seen the coin icons, but having logged on through Bing and clicked through to the merchant's site.

 

Listen, did you go back to the last few posts?

I got the same thing too. I try on my host PC with IE8, its not there. Then I try inside my client VMware on IE8 and its there.

I use Firefox on my host PC and its there. If that doesnt work, try Chrome.

 

Great! I guess you can order the R700 again and we have until end of month to that since Bing cashback will end on 7/31/2010.

 

I am getting confused with core and thread. So when Task Manager, is this 2 or 4 cpu?

 

i realize that battery life claims are never 100% accurate.

i just think that toshiba blatantly lied about the 8hr claim when it's actually only about half of that.

if they want to exaggerate, they should have claimed a smaller # than double the actual battery life. on top of that, they had the balls to slap a sticker advertising 8 hrs on the palmrest of the laptop.

lol i still love this laptop though. not perfect but very very nice for the price

 

Its not just Toshiba. Everyone super claim that theirs last 8 hrs. I mean this is like in perfect condition. Same thing with car manuf.

Can you down clock this to 1.2 Ghz?

 

Here is a link to Intel's specs on the i3 It's my understanding that the i3 cannot be overclocked but I'm not sure about "underclocking". I don't think you can change the fsb or the actual speed of the processor but you might be able to limit it by changing the maximum processor state using the windows 7 power plan advanced settings?

 

Check out what a reviewer had to say about one of the current kings of battery life. "The Asus UL30A-A1 ran for 6 hours and 41 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, using the included eight-cell battery. That's an impressive number that, although not near Asus' claim of 12 hours, is still well above expectations for a thin-and-light."

My observation: Don't get me wrong, I think those results are awesome. But I bet there are a ton of people that are complaining on ASUS's forums that they aren't getting anywhere close to 12 hours. It's only half!

 

just want to say, more and more that I use the R705, it is a great machine - sure it is not perfect, but I enjoy it very much - very light, good performance so far and overall a great purchase.

 

lol i guess this should be a rule of thumb when shopping for a new laptop.

take the manufacturer's battery life claim and divide it by half to get your real usage time

 

How do you access the BIOS settings? Never mind the infinitesimal amount of time the POST screen actually shows up; I don't even see what to press to access settings. Anyone know?

 

Thanks for the link. 15g for the hard drive weight is awesome!

 

you guys are forgetting that that test puts the laptop under a high load. so if a claimed 12 hr battery life is getting 6 hrs under their video test, you'll likely be able to get at least 9 hrs of normal usage (wifi, screen brightness turned 50-70%). and like I said, at least when I had the R705, getting 4-5 hrs is no problem as long as you aren't doing anything intensive and adjust the screen accordingly. if you're playing videos, max volume, wifi turned on, screen brightness all the way up, and complaining about getting 3 hrs, you're being unrealistic.

BIOS I think was F9 or F10.

 

Finally used my battery for a while last night. Looks like I'm getting a little over 4 with eco mode turned on while Internet surfing and a few other simple tasks. I'm relatively content with that.

 

Task Manager will show 4 CPUs in the Performance tab, but your Core chip is really a dual-core processor: 2 CPUs with Hyper-Threading. The following link has a brief explanation:

Hyper-Threading: Differentiating Core i7 : Intel Core i5 And Core i7: Intel?s Mainstream Magnum Opus

Press the Esc key while POST is showing.

 

Does anyone's screen go a little wonky? I can't capture any of it with Print Screen or Snipping Tool (maybe because it's a hardware quirk). It seems the gamma or contrast increases by itself to the point where everything's blown out and colors are intensely saturated--"radioactive," as I call it. I also notice the brightness increasing and decreasing, especially when I'm playing Solitaire, strangely enough. Is there an auto brightness setting on the R705 that I haven't come across? If there is, it's got a mind of its own.

BTW, thanks ThatTree for the tip (and terrible lie, for guessing ).

 

hey guys can you tell me in general if you are satisified with t he r705? what do you like/dislike about it?

hows the weight? battery life? performance? heat/noise levels? thanks

 

I'm happy with it. It is very light, pretty quick, and fairly quiet. It does get a bit hot if you push in the area near the fan, but overall not too bad. I keep it on my lap often. Battery life is ok - 4-5 hours depending on usage. It feels very well made and looks clean and nice. Keyboard takes a bit getting used to, but feels good. Overall - a good value for the price.

 

thanks for that. what did it cost you ?

 

Do you live in USA? Go to a Best Buy store and check it out.

 

R705 is at Best Buy for $799. Toshiba also has similar models that you can customize on their website and some on-line vendors also have the R700. R705 is exclusive to Best Buy and has the deep blue lid, does not have bluetooth or fingerprint reader. It does have Intel wireless display, which the R700 does not.

 

The R700 has wireless display.

 

I thought the wireless display was exclusive to the R705.

 

Just pressed the button for it on my R700.

I don't know about the R705, but on the R700 you do have to buy a Netgear Push2TV adapter in order for it to function properly.

 

That is odd. If you look on laptops.toshiba.com and compare each model of the R700 series, only the R705 shows Intel Wireless Display. When you press the button, does it say "Intel Wireless Display" or something different? The spec sheets on the R700 series refer to a presentation button which facilitates presentations to an external monitor or projector. What model of the R700 series do you own?

When you purchase the R705 from Best Buy, it doesn't come with the Push2TV adapter. The adapter will run you an additional $99 to stream video to your HDTV. Only the Blue Label laptops include the adapter in the purchase price.

 

I live in canada unfortunately..which is whats preventing me from purchasing an R705..

 

Really sorry for the confusion. You're right actually. It is just a presentation tool I guess. In doing all my laptop research I must have conflated some of the features on the two systems. My fault.

 

After this series of messages I went to the Intel website to research 'Intel Wireless Display'. It appears that the R700 I ordered meets almost all of the requirements as seen here: Intel® Wireless Display — System requirements for the Intel® Wireless Display
The only thing I'm missing is: "Intel® My WiFi Technology and Intel Wireless Display must be pre-installed and enabled".
I then found that there is a download available at: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...logies&ProductProduct=Intel®+Wireless+Display

So... the question is...can I download and install the software to make Wireless Display work. I don't have my R700 yet so I can't try it myself.

 

That's a great question. It would be great if you could but I don't know. I do know that the R705 has a physical button that activates the Intel Wireless Display. On the R700 series, the Presentation Button is substituted. I assume you would need to be able to activate the wireless display directly through software.

I did a quick search and noted some driver downloads on Intel's website related to wireless display. It was interesting to note that a Toshiba laptop required an additional download from the generic drivers. I don't know if that would apply to the R700, though. Did you locate any downloads on Toshiba's website related to wireless display?

 

Yes...I just checked and there is a download available for my model (R700-ST1300 - custom built) and it includes a driver. It's dated 06-16-2010 and is named (Driver Display) - Intel Wireless Display(v1.2.18.10.64; 06-16-2010; 95.33M).

If someone tries this please let us know your results...and...if the Presentation Button on the R700 is mapped to Wireless Display.

 

is there a model who doesn't have this BS 13x768 screen? I hate 16:9

 

No. I am not aware of any 3:4 laptops these days

Edit: Try the Panasonic R series, a 4:3 netbook

 

About 4 hours to fully charge from about 15% battery remaining.

 

About what I got as well.

 

Nice, is that charging while the laptop was in use or when it was shut down?

 

does any1 know if i could swap the cdrom out for a 2nd hdd on the r705/700? i checked the R705 out in bestbuy the rom looks awfully thin but i think it should be enough for a 2.5 drive?

 

I just bought Netgear's PTV1000 ($99) to use with the Intel Wireless Display on the R705. I have to tell you, I am pretty impressed so far. Shows on Hulu and Windows Media Center look and sound excellent.

I was hesitant to buy the adapter after I read all of the reviews from the early adopters on Best Buy's website. The driver and firmware updates appear to have addressed a lot of the issues, however. Time will tell.

It isn't a perfect technology. There is a slight delay from what occurs on your laptop screen so it isn't great for browsing that requires a significant amount of typing. Also, copy protected DVDs can't be beamed to your HDTV due to restrictions created by CRM.

But if you believe that streaming will replace physical media in the near future like I do, the PVT1000 might be worth buying. It is nice not to be tethered to an HDMI cord when you want everyone to see the show.

 

RunSilent, based on what you're saying would you not recommend it for people looking to use the TV as a larger monitor during text editing? In other words, is it not appropriate for Word documents?

 

I wouldn't recommend it for text editing since there is a delay in what you'll see on your HDTV and what you're typing. However, if you are using your laptop keyboard, you'll be able to see the laptop screen as well, which means no delay.

Primarily, I see it as a media streamer to your HDTV, which can include your high end audio equipment as well (if it is connected to your HDTV). Video and music streaming work excellent. I streamed HD trailers of Inception, Star Trek and Knight and Day and I couldn't believe the quality. It is hard to believe it is wireless.

One strange thing about streaming video, the laptop display will be a second or two ahead of your HDTV, but the audio is matched perfectly with the HDTV. If you look at the laptop screen and listen to the HDTV, it looks like a bad case of a foreign movie dubbing.

 

Thank you, that's helpful. The only reason why I would want WiDi instead of a HDMI connection would be so I could plop down on the couch and instantly convert the TV into a huge monitor for my normal work (which mainly consists of Word, Excel, and some typing-intensive web browsing). Sounds like it's not well equipped for that right now. If I want to play movies on the TV I can still use the cable.

 

If your laptop is your source of home entertainment, but also your productivity machine, WiDi is nice for accommodating everything simultaneously. Unfortunately, it didn't ship with desktop extending capabilities, but at least new drivers can add advanced features post-purchase. You can now output video on your TV and work on documents AND spread out to fullscreen on both monitors at the same time.

 

my time was when it was down.

 

Anyone has any experience with the 9-cell extended battery? What's the charging time and backup time?

 

EVERYONE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR WEAR LEVELS!!

I figured it out!!!

Sooo after a lot of research, which is good for the soul, I found out that this is not actual wear but instead put in place to ensure extended longevity of the battery though additional charge/discharge cycles. This battery was never worn down by the 8%, instead the battery is engineered such that you can never charge it to 100% of the designed capacity which means the cells never all reach the max cell voltage, which is the #1 way to ensure long battery life through charge/discharge cycles.

So in the end, yes...it kind of sucks that you don't get the extra 8% out of your battery from the get-go...but what it means is that after numerous charge cycles you'll have MUCH lower degradation in capacity...so much so that you will soon exceed what the battery life would be if you had allowed it to fully charge and thus degrade more quickly.

I suck at explaining things but I can tell you that this is 100% what is going on here and that you all need to STOP COMPLAINING about this and actually BE HAPPY. It is saving you money and giving you better battery life in the long run. My M1330 battery wore down to 50% after 8 months of once-twice daily charge/recharge cycles, it sucks! I wish I would have known this.